Doctoral Program
UCF School of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Overview
The Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at UCF prepares the next generation of researchers, innovators, and educators to advance healthcare and technology. Designed to address rapid changes in healthcare delivery and scientific discovery, the program combines advanced CSD training with emerging methods such as augmented and virtual reality, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), computational analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Students gain broad expertise across speech, language, and hearing sciences while benefiting from UCF’s state-of-the-art facilities, diverse clinical programs, and nationally recognized faculty. Students benefit from close mentorship by faculty leaders who bring extensive expertise in the field and a deep commitment to advancing students’ development as independent researchers and professionals.
The curriculum emphasizes both research and practical application, with courses in advanced instrumentation and analysis, simulation and virtualization, project management and administration, and proposal design and development.
Graduates will be prepared to translate scientific discovery into practice across healthcare, academia, and industry — equipping them not only with deep disciplinary knowledge but also with the innovative skills to shape the future of the field and improve quality of life for people across the world.
Students with bachelor’s degrees and/or master’s degrees may apply.
Students admitted into this program will receive full tuition and a stipend.
The School of Communication Sciences and Disorders is one of the nation’s largest undergraduate programs, the largest master’s program in speech-language pathology, and the top supplier of speech-language pathologists in Florida.
Application Deadline
Fall Admission
February 1 – Domestic applicants
December 1 – International applicants
Credits
72 credit hours (36 credit hours of core and research courses, 21 credits of content area electives and 15 credits of dissertation)
Up to 15 credit hours of graduate-level coursework may be transferred from a graduate degree program
Funding Opportunities and Financial Support
Students admitted into this program will receive full tuition and a stipend.
Faculty
Home to more than 40 faculty and research staff, including five ASHA Fellows, faculty in the School are highly published researchers, clinical leaders, and innovators making new discoveries in speech, language, and hearing sciences.
Faculty Mentors and Ph.D. Training Areas
- Language Development and Disorders
- Multilingual/Multicultural Aspects of Communication
- Language Disorders
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- Assistive Technology
- Service-Learning / Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Acquired Aphasia
- Adult Neurogenic Communication Disorders
- Emotion and Language Science
- Psychosocial Well-being in Aphasia
- Voice
- Dysphagia
- Speech Science
- Technology
- Hearing
- Perception
- Neuroscience
- Aging
- Aphasia
- Bilingualism and Multilingualism
- Alexia and Acquired Reading Disorders
- Cross-Linguistic Language Assessment
- Group-Based Aphasia Rehabilitation
- Psychoacoustics
- Auditory Psychophysics
- Hearing Science
- Spatial Hearing
- Multisensory
- Virtual Reality
- Hearing Devices and Technologies
- Bilingualism
- Developmental Language Disorders
- Lexical Semantics
- Language Development
- Language Disorders
- Early Intervention
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- Implementation Science Research
- Language Disorders
- Language Acquisition
- Emergent Literacy
- Preschool And School-Age Speech Language Pathology
- Professional Learning
- Translational Technologies in CSD
- Voice and Voice Science
- Voice disorders
- Healthcare Simulation and Clinical Skills Education
- Health Communication and Health Literacy
- Medical Speech-Language Pathology
- Voice disorders
- Vocal health and Prevention
- Upper Airway Disorders
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Respiratory Muscle Strength Training
Facilities
The School contains several unique facilities for research, teaching, clinical service delivery and training, many of which are housed together in a single complex, including:
- The Rehabilitation Innovation Center integrates the research, teaching and clinical service missions of the College of Health Professions and Sciences. The Center includes simulation technology, research labs, collaborative creative spaces, unique community programs and innovative learning environments.
- The Communication Technologies Research Center has four focal areas: hearing technologies, auditory neuroscience, voice and respiratory science, and virtualization and simulation. The Center houses eight sound booths, one acoustically configurable, double-walled, sound attenuating “live lab” that supports multi-person communication and sensory experiments, multiple electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy systems, a balance lab, a voice/respiration examination room, two intake rooms, a conference room, student work areas, and an anechoic chamber building with control-room, offices and machine shop.
- The UCF Health Communication Disorders Clinic offers cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment services to hundreds of people of all ages in the community who have communication and hearing challenges. The clinic treats clients across the lifespan — from toddlers developing speech and language to adults who have lost speech, language or swallowing due to disease or trauma. The clinic offers speech therapy, audiology, assistive technology, and an intensive aphasia treatment program.
- The AAC Research to Practice Lab Collaborative is a collection of research labs focused on translating research findings to practice and improving clinical outcomes for individuals with complex communication needs who require the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to meet some or all of their communication needs. Current members of the collaborative include the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Lab and the AAC Early Communication and Play Lab, as well as partnership with the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST).
- The Early Language & Literacy Intervention & Education (ELLIE) Lab is dedicated to research focusing on strengthening the capacity of individuals working with young children who may experience language impairments and those considered at-risk. The ELLIE lab aims to conduct research to support young children’s language and emergent literacy skills through the use of evidence-based practices in naturalistic settings.
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The Communication, Aphasia Recovery, and Emotion (CARE) Lab focuses on understanding the relationship between emotion and language in aphasia, improving rehabilitation outcomes and psychosocial well-being in aphasia, and understanding the behavioral and neural correlates of post-stroke language recovery.
- The Examining Patient-Provider Language and Interactions in Healthcare (EXPLAIN) Lab is dedicated to advancing health literacy and patient-provider communication through research, education, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our mission is to improve healthcare accessibility, comprehension, and outcomes by studying and enhancing communication strategies for individuals with communication disorders (CSD) and those who experience challenges in accessing understanding and using health information.
Career Outcomes
Speech Scientist, Language Scientist, Hearing Scientist, Voice Scientist, Medical Scientist, Data Scientist, Medical and Health Services Manager, Healthcare Administrator, Research Project Manager, Clinical Project Manager, Faculty in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Audiologist.
